Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Top 3 NewLiberal observations

I define a liberal as a person who is committed to being openminded and has the courage to support what's right regardless of the consequences- political or otherwise. Most people on the left are considered (old) liberals, but in fact are more aptly named left-wing conservatives because they have a fixed point of view that they then seek out facts that support their predisposition.Truly (new)liberal people can come to opposite conclusions based on a different calculation of what's really important. The key is whether they make a good faith effort to understand all sides and then do what they thought was right. As Democrats we should strive to promote a liberalism that is both good policy and good politics.---3. President-elect Obama can't be a good father and be a good President at the same time.It's really quite simple, everything we've learned as a society shows that "being there" is the most important part of parenting. If Obama is to be a good President, he will necessarily not be available for his children as much as they will need him. Of Course there are benefits to having your dad be POTUS, but the trade-off reality should be acknowledged not just for Obama but for all Parents focused on advancing in really important careers.2. People who claim to support traditional marriage should be mored focused on out-of-wedlock births, infidelity, and no-fault divorces than so-called "gay marriage" because they are more direct threats to the institution and are going relatively unaddressed. In fact it is because of these diminutions of the sanctity of marriage that allows many to not be bothered by same sex unions. The proper way to attack the gay rights assault on marriage is to strengthen marriage on its' own terms and make it more exclusive and more healthy.

1. The Modern Stock Market has devolved into a gambling operation with almost all market participants buying/selling trying to make a "paper profit" regardless of the business fundamentals of a particular company or the market as a whole. There are very few people buying and holding shares in a company because they believe in the business model and management team. Rather it is because they think the current price is wrong, and they are betting (long or short) that they are right. This is exactly the same as betting on sports. Which is fiine. Except one is generally legal and one is generally illegal. Both should become more like the other. The government should start looking for ways to protect our financial system from people making bets in the market, versus true investors taking an informed risk. Conversely, sports betting should become legal throughout the U.S. and be subject to the strict scrutiny that stocks are.

7. Republicans gained power in 1994 on stated principles. They lost power in 2006 without advancing very many if any of them. They have refused to take stands against unpopular government programs-instead claiming they can just adminster them better. They have refused to pursue an all-out assault on abortion rights, gay rights, and other liberal issues while instead choosing to misuse the trust of the Religious and social conservatives that keep supporting them. If they had lost because:they demanded school vouchers and the public rejected themthey stood 100% against gay marriage and the public thought it was off-topic and a distractionthey refused to expand Medicare for a prescription drug benefit without radical reformThen they would have laid a marker down in history for what they believed, they could re-evaluate whether they wanted to change the message or the methods. But instead they lost because corruption, bad political tactics, and a refusal to hold the Bush adminstration accountable for it's excesses and failures.Democrats should note this lesson, and push an agenda they can be proud of in victory or defeat.Craig Farmermaking the word "liberal" safe again!